Press for cutting or punching sheet material



Dec. 4, 1928; v 1,693,726 J. R. OLIVER PRESS FOR CUTTING OR PUNCHINGSHEET MATERIAL Filed July 30, 192.7 Sheets-Sheet 1 v A 19 i lfgq- I5 1201;

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Dec. 4, 1928; T 1,693,726 J. R. OLIVER PRESS FORCUTTING OR PUNCHING SHEET MATERIAL Filed July 30, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR JMWGM,

ATTO RNEYS.

- movable down by power to eflect the cutting- Patented Dec. 4, 1928..

UNITED STATES TPATEN'II; OFFICE."

JOHN ROGER OLIVER, 0F MEDFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO REECE SHOEMACHINERY'COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 01 MAINE;

PRESS ron cu'r'rnm on runcnme snnn'r MATERIAL.

Application filed July 80, 1927. Serial Ho. 209,497.

shoes or other articles, and is shown applied to the type of poweroperated press, which has come to be known as a clicking press, or

clicker, which embodies a bed or cutting block for supporting theleather and a presser or head movable or swingable laterally to selectedpositions over the leather and then or punching, usually by means ofaloose die placed selectively upon the leather. A typical instance of aclicking press is the well 4 known Reece clicker as illustrated, forexample in U. S. Letters Patent 1,228,834 of June 5, 1917, this clickerbeing characterized by the fact'that the upright sliding post or pillarwhich carries the presser head down and up is not rotatable, the presserhead being mount ed to rotate upon the post, and having an upper or mainrotary bearing upon the post, with a rigid downward extension to a lowerbearing upon the post. The herein illustrated embodiment of the presentinvention is shown applied to a clicking press so characterized,although the principles may to some extent be utilized in clickers ofother constructions, or in other types of press.

The general object of the present invention is to improve theconvenience and efiiciency of presses of the class and type referred to;particular object is to facilitate the manual,

work of laterally swinging the presser head,

by substantially reducing its mass arid inertia, without undulysacrificing either the strength and rigidity of the iron presser headconstructions heretofore customarily used, or. the rela tivelylow costof such presser heads. The

heavy mass and inertia of the presser head could of course be reduced bythe substitution for iron of any material or metal of lower specificgravity or mass, so long as it substantially retains the qualitiespossessed by iron of rigidity suflicient to communicate the cuttingpressure, strength to avoid fracture and hardness to resist deformation.It is obvious and long well understood in the metals inlowest possibleamount, and this material has been used in many situations, both in.power driven machinery, and in manually operated implements, forreduction of inertia and muscular effort. The widespread use of aluminumhowever, inmachinery, has been somewhat hampered until recently by thelack of a suitable alloy possessing rigidity, strength 0 and hardness.The development of several such alloys has now madethis metal indus,trially available fora far wider utility where lightness or low mass hasbeen desirable, especially in industries,=such as aviation and highspeed-engines, where the high expense of the lighter metal has not beena factor. WVith a large casting such as the head of a clicking machinethe expense of aluminum has heretofore been prohibitively high,especially with the 'Reece type of clicker, so much so that thereplacement'of iron by aluminum alloy for the entire presser'headinvolves an additional cost of a large amount, rendering v thesubstitution-prohibltive in a commercial 7 sense. a

With these considerations in mind it is a further object of thepresentinvention to afford the maximum advantages and minimum disadvantages,through a composite Q0 presser head, that is, built up of permanentlyrelated and connected 'parts of heavy and light materials, such, as castiron and cast aluminum alloy respectively, which will afford the desiredlow mass and inertia with- A out sacrificing the ?desirable' qualitiespreviously mentioned. In the particular embodiment herein disclosed thepresser head shape or body is built up of iron portions so these metalsbeing respectively well adapted to resist these respective strains. Aproperly designedpresser' head according to the principles hereof willafford low mass and inertia,

while giving a degree of strength and rigidity practically inferiorneither to an all iron head nor an all aluminum alloy head, and havingthe hardness of the best aluminum alloy. Indeed, relieving the ironcomponent of the tension stresses permits the same to be cut down incross section and so minimized in weight, thuskeeping low the totalweight of the presser head,'cast iron being peculiarly well adapted toresist compression strains while unreliable for tensile strains, exceptv trusses.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe referred to in the hereinafter following description of anillustrative embodiment of the ,invention or will be apparent to thoseskilled in the subject. To the attainment of such objects and advantagesthe present invention consists in the novel press or clicking machine,and the novel features of combination, construction, arrangement, designand detail lierein illustrated or described.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a right elevation of a clickingpress generally similar to that disclosed in said prior Patent1,228,834, but with the features of the present invention illustrativelyincorporated therein.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the presser head of Fig. 1, detached fromthe machine.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3 -3 of Fig. 1, lookingfrom the front.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, lookingfrom. above! First will be described the general features which .arealso disclosed in the prior patent. Above a four legged base is the mainframe 11 supporting the cutting block or bed 12 which may comprisesections of wood held together by clamps 13 and mounted on an adjustablesupport 14. The swinging presser or head 15, located above the bed, isprovided at its forward end with a sultable handle 16 for swinging itright and left.

.A sheet of'leather L is shown resting on the bed and a loose die 17 isplaced thereon with its cutting edge against the leather so that thedescent of the presser will press the die through the material, as isusual in clicking presses. The down and up movements are communicated tothe presser through an upright post, ram or pillar 18 carrying thepresser. The presser is formed with an upper bearing 19 on the post anda downward extension 20 extending to a lower bearing 21 also shownengaging the post. The post has a shoulder 22 at its top end confiningthe presser against upwardmovement, while a thrust bearing 23 isinterposed between the presser and a collar 24 clamped upon the post.The post slides up and down, being fitted within heavy fixed framebearings 27 and 28. Power may be supplied through a belt pulley 30normally loose but adapted to be clutched 'to a main shaft 31, usuallyfor a single rotation, so that the presser head will descend for acutting operation, rise, and come to rest.. The shaft may carry aneccentric 32 which operates through a strap and rod 35 to pull down andforce up the post and presser. The one rotation clutch may he of anytype, such as that shown in the prior patent, which involves certainenclosed parts, including a clutch dog which has a pin 48 projectingoutwardly in the path of a clutch-cam or shoe 49 mounted at the lowerend of a swinging clutch lever 50, an upper extension 54 of which ispulled by spring 55 to press the clutch into operative position so as tothrow ofi the power and stop the shaft. The clutch may be'released atwill through a connecting rod 58 extending from the clutch shoe 49 tothe upper end of a rock arm 59 mounted on a rock shaft 60 carrying alsoforwardly extending rock arms 61 connected'by a cross connection or bar62 which may serve.

as a pedal, while upward rods 63 extend to a controlling handle or bar64 mounted within easy reach, at the forward end of sup.- porting arms65. The operation of these or equivalent parts may be substantially asdescribed in said patent, or otherwise, a depressing movement of thehand bar 64, for example, serving to release the clutch, thus permittingengagement and drive for a. single rotation of t e shaft, which operatesto pull down and again elevate the post and presser'head, leaving themagain in their normal or raised position as shown, assuming thatthecontroller has 1n the meanwhile been released or the clutch otherwiseset for stoppage.

In the operation of a clicking machine the presser head is subjected toforces or stresses of ver considerable amount, tending to bend it, whichitself is objectionable, and tending in extreme cases to break orfracture it, especially at a point between the striking part and theaxis of swinging. The inertia; of the presser head during the strikingmovement, and the impact upon the die, both have a tendency to force orbend upwardly the forward end of the head, this stress operating tocreate a strained condition in the metal composing the head,substantially from the free or forward end rearward and down to the footof the extension. The result of this operating stress .is to create, inthe upper or outer parts of the break at any Weak point, which little bylittle as already explained, should have inherent strength to resistfracture, and rigidity to minimize bending, which latter impairsparallelism and interferes with a proper cutting action.

Under the principles pertaining to stresses in metal structures it iswell understood that there may exist what may be termed a neutral axisor imaginary surface at a location between the portions undercompression strain and the portions under tensile strain. This neutralaxis need not be herein exactly located for purposes of description but:willbe understood to extend through the'length of the head, aboutmidway between its upper and lower portions, from the front to the rear,and around and down through the rear extension. It may be hereinapproximately located as extending at or preferably slightly below thedivision plane w-m from front to-rear, and then down in front of thedivision plane y'g hereinafter to be referred to, that is to say at orslightly inside of the planes of division or demarcation between theouter and inner portions of the composite presser head.

The general plan of this invention therefore is to build up the presserhead of a lower or inside aluminum portion, and an upper or outside ironportion, the two rigidly interconnected, and so designed with planes orsurfaces of division whereat the two are'joined, that the neutral axisof strain of the entire presser head, when in use, will fallapproximately near to the division surface or planes;

- and preferably the neutral axis is slightly inside of the divisionsurface so that no part of the iron component will be subjected to anybut com ression strains. In referring to aluminum ere and hereafter ismeant any suitable alloy, of light weight, and which. is hard and rigidand possesses high tensile strength, such alloys having been produced bymetallurgists and now well known as available for.

various mechanical purposes.

For facility of manufacture, and to minimize machiningexpense, thedivision surface preferably comprises two division planes, in-

dicated as the planes a:m and g y, the former extending through the bodyof the pressing portion of the presser head from front to rear, and thelatter extending downwardly through the length of the rear extension ofthe head. In connection with this arrangement of division planes, eachcomponent hereof, the iron component and the aluminum component, isdesigned and machined so that its points of union or connect-ion withtheother component will lie substantially in one or the other divisionplane, or at any 'rate" parallel there-to, so that when the component 18set up in the machine shop the planing operation is a substantiallysimple and rapid one.

As will be observed the iron and aluminum components preferably donot'contact conproduct. Another feature of preference is that thedivision planes 02-00 and y1 are at right angles to each other, so thatwhen the machining has been accomplished in one plane the setting up andmachining at the other plane will be more easily, accurfitely andexpeditiously performed. a v A presser head designed in accordance withthe principles just described is illustrated in the four figures hereofconstituting an example of the principles of the invention. Tofacilitate understanding of the drawings the aluminum component of thepresser head is st-ippled to distinguish it from t-he iron component. v

Referring first to the aluminum component or portion of the illustratedpresser head, this comprises various integral parts, as follows."

' strengthen the edge part of the striking plate and to constitute a rimconvenient to be handled the plate is shown provided with an upstandingshort flange 71'extending around the front and rearwardly along bothsides substantially to the rear of the striking part of the plate.Upstanding from the striking plate also is a transverse web 72, and tothe rear of that ataller transverse web 73 which forms substantially acontinuation of the rim 71.

These several webs and others to be-described of course give stiffnessand strength to the structure with minimum use of'metal. No novelty isclaimed in the design of a presser head involving a striking plate withintegral flanges and webs, as this is a well understood matter ofgeneral structural design, and indeed cast iron presser heads have longbeen-designed in this manner so as. to minimize the volume and weight ofmetal, while attaining high rigidity and strength.

A fore-and-aft or longitudinal web 74 is shown also upstanding from thestriking plate, along itscenter line, extending from in Fig. 3 arepreferably extra thick,'to improve the strength and rigidity to resisttensile stress.

With reference to the division plane Iii l),

the aluminum component of the presser 1s shown as havingan enlargementor joining portion 77 at-the front, adapted to receive steel boltsjoining the iron and. aluminum components at this first or frontconnection lIiU point or junction 101. Similarly, at the rear of the web74 and near the web 72 are shown opposite enlargements 78 adapted toreceive connecting bolts, and their upper surfaces constituting thesecond junction 102. Again, near the transverse web 73 are oppositeenlargements 79 adapted to receive such bolts, and with their uppersurfaces at the third junction 103. Substantially this principle iscontinued throughout the fore-and-aft extent of the presser and aroundthrough the downward extension thereof. The aluminum component isrigidly connected with the iron component at each of the junction points101, 102,103, etc., and these three junction points as well as the onenext to be described will be seen to present surfaces or planescoinciding with the division plane w--m. Preferably the heavy and lightmetal components of the presser head do not contact, nor extend to thedivision plane, between the junction points. Thus as seen in Fig. 1, the

' 'central web 7 4 is shown curved downwardly away from the divisionplane, while the top flange 76 of the web 75 is similarly bowed orcurved downwardly between the enlargements 78 and 7-9. The same will beexplained to be true also with the iron component of the presser. Inthis way metal not comprised in the bolted junction is kept well removedfrom the division plane and neutral axis, so,

as more effectually to apportion the strains,

7 more especially to confine the tension strains to the aluminumcomponent, approximately, and the compressionstrains to the iron component.

Rearward of ,the transverse web 7 3 the aluminum component is formedwith a thick central web 80, the top of which is widened into a flange81, these extending rearwardly to where the contour is expanded into theform of. a hollow cylinder 82, arranged to surround the post 18 of theclicker, with or without any bearing contact therewith. At the twosidesof part 82 are shown enlargements 83, to receive connecting bolts,these enlargements stiffened by fillet flanges 84:, and being machinedat their top sides in the plane w m to constitute junctions 104.

The aluminum structure, and the corre-' sponding iron structure, in sometypes of clicker, might terminate substantially at the point thus fardescribed, especiall' in cases where the presser head is rigidly c ampedto the reciprocating post rather than rotating on the post. Theinvention" however is shown in the Reece type of clicker and thedescription continues as follows.

7 To the rear of the cylindrical portion 82 the centralweb 85 takes amuch thicker design, as seen in Figs. 2 and 4, and curves down into adownward extension constituting part of the extension 20. What may becon- 'sidered as an extension ofthe striking plate is the heavy downwardflange 86, constituting the front flange of the web 85, these two partsin fact constituting the entire cross section of the aluminum componentof the downward extension, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4. Near the top ofthese parts is an enlargement 87 for receiving horizontal connectingbolts and presenting a junction 105, this enlargej sion plane y-y, or atleast near to and parallel with such plane. The lowermost extremity-ofthe web is shown formed with a substantial enlargement 89 presenting ajunction 107 in the plane yy and arranged to receive connecting bolts.Finally, the

lower ends of the web 85 and its flange, 86,

and the forward extension of the enlargement 89, are continued andshaped into a cylindrical portion 90 which may constitute or contain thebearing 21 already referred to by which the lower end of the downwardextension is engaged in a rotary manner on the post 18.

Coming next to the iron component or portion of the illustrated presser,this comprises various parts which are largely complementary to theparts of the aluminum component, but are located wholly or mainly at thecompression side of the neutral axis whereas the aluminum parts are atthe tension side. The iron portions overlie or outwardly surround thealuminum portions, and this metal being well adapted to receive highcompression strains without elastic bending or liability to fracture,"the design may be considerably smaller in cross section, and thereforelighter, than would be the case if tensile strains were to be received.

The iron component comprises, in the illus trated embodiment, a top orouter flange 110, which is laterally crowned or convexed, and

is longitudinally convexlycurved analo- 101 are shown at symmetricallyopposite 1 positions, passing through the enlargement 111 into theenlargement 77 and firmly unitin the two components at this junctionpoint.

elow the forward portion of theiron top flange 110, in what may betermed the first panel, is a vertical central web 112. This extends fromthe front rearwardly to a transverse web 113 which stands down from thetop flange. The lower edge of the web 112 is shown formed asahorizontal-flange 114 which stifi'ens the web, and. is arched upwardlyaway from the division plane 411-011, also laterally incurved, as seenin dotted lines in the plan viewFig. 2. The design and contour of theseand the remaining portions of the iron component are determined by therequirement of minimum mass consistent with adequate strength forcompression strain, andrigidity against upward bending.

- 5 Thus the central web 112 is relatively thin,

and as seen in Fig. 3 may be but one third of the thickness of thecomplementary alumi num tension web 74, thus cutting down the volume ofiron and mass of the presser as a whole.

Near the transverse web 113 the iron component is enlarged at 115 atpoints opposite the aluminum enlargements 78, the two be- "mginterconnected at the junction 102 by steel bolts 102'. A

In the second panel, similarly, is'a vertical central web 116extending'rearwardly .to a transverse web 117, the central web having anarched and in'curvedflange 118, as shown in Fig. 2, and the oppositealuminum flange 76 maybe shaped the same. Adjacent the web 117 are shownenlargements 119 opposite the aluminum enlargements 79, the two-meetsing in the planej at the junction point 103 and being firmlyinterconnected bybolts Rearward from the transverse flange 117 is showna central web 120 constituting sub.- stantially a continuation of thewebs 112 and 116 and extending to a cylindrical portion 122 surroundingthe clicker post 18 and constituting a bearing engaging the same, andshaped to engage'the shoulder, 22 of the post, these partsbeingsufliciently heavy to stand the shocks received duringreciprocation and impact. At each lateral side of the cylindrical part112 is an enlargement 123 arranged opposite to the aluminum enlargements83, t e two meetingat the junction 104 and being interconnected by bolts104.

The importance of reducing theiron cross section and mass decreases withthe approach to the axis of swinging, namely theaxis of post 18, for thereason that the inertia which requires muscular effort to overcome, bothin starting and-terminat ng the swlnging, is a moment or rotary force.For this reason the "free or forward ends of pressers have always beenmade lighter than the rearor axial parts. Metal near the axis moves butlittle during the swinging andits inertia offers but little oppositionto the swinging eflort. For this reason the cylindrical iron portion 122should be madesafely heavy. In the Reece type clicker considerableinertia is obviated by the factthat the downand up moving post 18, whichcarries the presser, does not rotate with the presser, and so does notrequire to be moved in the swinging of the presser as in certain othertypes of clicker.

Beyond or behind the parts described is a continuation comprising a thinvertical web rigidly tied together by bolts 105. From- .this pointdownwardly theiron component comprises a convex extension 127 of theflange 110 and a thin extension 128 of the web 124.

The 'web' 128 has a portion 129 adapted to I contact the lug 88 of thealuminum web 85' at the junction 106. At the footof the iron parts theweb and flange terminate with an enlargement 130 complementary to thealuminum enlargement 89, and which connects with the same at thejunction 107 in the plane 31-3 being rigidly attached by bolts I07passed through the iron part and threaded deeply into the aluminum part.

The particular embodiment thus described may be greatly varied withinthe principle of the invention, which may be in one aspect stated as apower press ofthe clicker type comprising the bed for supporting theleather, with mechanism to depress and raise the presser, and thepresser, fitted to be moved to selected positions over the bed, andbuiltup of longitudinaly contiguous components,

one of which is light and-the other is low referred to may be anystandard alloy, with 1 a substantial component of aluminum, and known topossess the required qualities; The principal embodiments of theinvention will possess the arrangement wherein the lower or innercomponent is composed of a light alloy which is hard and rigid and ofhigh tensile strength, while the upper or outer component is of lowpriced or base metaLrigid and with high compression strength, so that inhandling the stresses encountered in practice the light alloy willresist the tensile strains 'while the rigid base metal or iron componentwill resist the compression strains.

presser head In eitherxof these aspects the presser may be of a contourter minating at the levelof the striking plate, without the downwardrear extengwn which characterizes the Reece type of choker.

/ danger points closely in front of and to the The described presser maybe constructed almost as light as one which'isentirely of aluminum. Thisis due to the fact that the iron component has only the compressionstrains to handle so that its webs may be, made relatively thin. Thepresser willbe as strong -or stronger than an all aluminum presserunless indeedthe latter is made of heavier dimensions, and it willrequire no struts or;

braces as has sometimes been found necessary with all aluminum pressers.The presser hereof is light enough to ease the muscular eflort, but'isnot so light as to impair the'e'fiectiveness of the cutting blow, and itavoids the present high first cost of an all aluminum v presser.

It will be noticed that there are no joints or contact pointsbetween thecontiguous comonents of the presserexcepting at the seven unctionjoints, at six of which the comonents are firmly and rigidlyinterconnected y strong steel bolts or the equivalentyand that there areno joints of any kind at the rear of the cylindrical parts surroundingthe vertica-lpost. There are preferably no joints within either of thetwo components, theiron component being integrally continuous from onelongitudinal end to the other, and the same with the aluminum component.Be-' tween the connecting or junction points 101, 102, etc., thecomponents are shaped concave- 1y so as to leave gaps or spaces, thusrelieving the'components of any communicated strain except at thejunction points. The lug 88 on the downward aluminum extension and thecomplementary portion 129 of the iron component are in contact withoutbeing bolted.

bending or buckling of'the iron component,

which otherwise might introduce a tensile strain at the forward edge ofthe latter, and in extreme cases result in, injury; while the aluminumcomponent is relieved of compression strain at its rear edge. At thesame time,'being unbolted, the parts may relatively slide at thejunction 106, and thus avoid introducingany shearing action at thejunctions 105 and'107 above andbelow.

' If desired, lateral dovetail interconnections *mig'h't; be introducedat various junction points between the two components, although:

- the flat junctions arranged insor parallel-to division planes M and y@are preferable,

' on leather, etc. for example stamping or emand greatly simplify theprocess of manufacture.

In one aspect the iron or outer component may be considered as abackingportion, having compressive strength, and reinforcin thealuminum inneror striking portion, w ich in turn reinforces the backing portion,giving a mutual cooperation attainingi the objects of this invention.The clicker ereof can be used for other than cutting-out operationsbossing the same, with or without a loose die. There has thus beendescribed a press for cutting or punching sheet material embodying theprinciples and attaining the objects of the present invention. Sinceseveral matters of combination, construction, arrangement, designanddetail, may be variously modified without departing fromv thepri'nciplesof the invention it is not intended to limit the invention to suchmatters except so far as set forth in the appended claims.

What isclaimed is:

1. A power press of the clicker type for operating upon leather or othersheet material comprising the bed for supporting the material fiatwise,mechanism to' depress and raise the presser, and a presser laterallyswingable to selected operative positions over the bed, and built up ofupper and lower longitu'dinal components unitarily interconnected inlongitudinal surface contact alon a division surface proximate totheneut'r-a axis of strain of the presser, the lower componentconsisting of a relatively light metal alloy of high surface hardnessand tensile strength, and the upper component consisting of a relativelyheavy metal of hi h rigidity and compressive strength, where y suchcomponents mutually reinforce each other against the strains encounteredin practical operation.

2. -A.-power, press of the clicker type for operating upon leather orother sheet ma terial comprising the bed for supporting the material,mechanism to depress and'raise the presser, and a presser laterallyswingable to selected positions over the bed, and built up of upper andlower components unitarily interconnected in longitudinal contact alonga division line proximate to the neutral axis of strain of the presser,the lower component consisting of a metal of high tensile stren h, theupper component consisting of a di erent metal of high rigidity andcompressive strength and one of said metals havin much lower densitythan the other, where y the combined united components present hi 11cooperative resistance to strains andamo crate total mass. 7 a j Intestimony whereof, I haveafixed my signature hereto.

- JOHN ROGER onrvna.

